Lake Chubsucker Research Articles

Parasites of Grass Carp and Native Fishes in Florida

Abstract One hundred sixty-three fish from four natural ponds in Florida were examined for parasites. Of these, 40 were grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), an exotic herbivorous fish which had been introduced for research as a possible biological control of aquatic vegetation. The remaining 123 fish included six native species (largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides; bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus; golden shiner, Notemigonus crysoleucas; lake chubsucker, Erimyzon sucetta; brown bullhead, Ictalurus nebulosus; yellow bullhead, Ictalurus natalis). Parasite faunas of the native fishes and grass carp were compared. Identified were 37 species of parasites from the native fishes and one species from grass carp. No exotic parasites were observed in the grass carp, but the grass carp were infected by a native parasite of the phylum Pentastomida, Sebekia oxycephala.

Normal Embryonic Stages of the White Sucker, Catostomus commersoni

bryos of the cyprinoid teleost, Catostomus commersoni-which we will publish separatelywe had to define a closely spaced series of stages in their development. Such normal series are available for a growing number of teleosts (Ballard, 1972), but few are sufficiently precise and detailed for the needs of experimental embryologists. Teleost development shows enough variation in rates and in synchrony of events to make any normal series unreliable beyond the limits of the suborder, or the family, of the included species. We could not specify Catostomus stages, for instance, in terms of the normal series published for any other genera of the Order Cypriniformes: Ictalurus (suborder Siluroidei), or Carassius or Cyprinus or Notropis (suborder Cyprinoidei). The latter three (Cyprinidae) differ especially in details of development from Catostomidae (Mansueti and Hardy, 1967). Their eggs are smaller and hatch sooner, with marked differences in synchrony. On the other hand, the development of another catostomid, the lake chubsucker Erimyzon sucetta, has been found by Shaklee et al. (1974) to follow the stages proposed here for Catostomus. Only Stewart (1926) has reported any details of the embryonic development of Catostomus. He listed only three stages of the morphogenetic movements and five of organogenesis, and did not specify any rates of development. Ictalurus punctatus development was described by Saksena et al. (1961) in nineteen stages, but their series ends with the appearance of pectoral folds. The development of Ictalurus nebulosus was very well illustrated but less well defined in 53 stages by Armstrong and Child (1962). The stage numbering in these two catfish series draws apart after stage 7, the early blastula; stage 19 as described for punctatus seems equivalent to stage 27 for nebulosus. Time correlates are not given for either series. Three normal series are available for the goldfish Carassius auratus. That of Battle (1940) shows 19 figured stages to the time of disappearance of the yolk, but gives sparse detail to organogenesis and leaps too swiftly over the period of morphogenetic movements. The more exacting needs of the experimental embryologist are better served by a Chinese series (Anon., 1959) and a Japanese one (Kajishima, 1960). T e latter describes 28 stages and gives their time of appearance when incubated at 21 C ? 1. B linsky (1948) closely defined a series of normal stages for three species of the family Cyprinidae, Carassius auratus, Cyprinus carpio and Rutilus rutilus, but he did not give rates of devel pment and his illustrations were lost because of the war. However, this series, when c mpared with ours, best brings out the contrasts between cyprinid and catostomid development, which begin to appear before the end of epiboly. There are two other normal series available

Developmental genetics of teleosts: A biochemical analysis of lake chubsucker ontogeny

Developing embryos of the lake chubsucker, Erimyzon sucetta, were analyzed with regard to both gross morphological changes and specific enzymatic changes from the unfertilized egg stage until some 3 weeks posthatching. Total activities of three enzymes—lactate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and isocitrate dehydrogenase—were determined throughout the course of development. Each of these different enzymes exhibited a different pattern of change during ontogeny. Electrophoretic analysis of qualitative changes in isozyme patterns was accomplished for these three enzymes and for α-amylase, glucosephosphate isomerase, mannosephosphate isomerase, creatine kinase, esterase, glutamate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, malate dehydrogenase, hexose diphosphatase, phosphoglucomutase, and phosphogluconate dehydrogenase. Many of the enzyme systems investigated exhibited rich patterns of ontogenetic change, while a few remained relatively unchanged throughout the interval studied. Several of the enzymes in particular metabolic pathways exhibited coincident changes suggestive of coordinate control. The appearance of several rather “tissue-specific” isozymes was closely correlated with the morphological and functional differentiation of these particular tissues or organs.

The Effects of Supplemental Feeding and Fall Drawdowns on the Largemouth Bass and Bluegills at Ridge Lake, Illinois

The Effects of Supplemental Feeding and Fall Drawdowns on the Largemouth Bass and Bluegills at Ridge Lake, Illinois

Isoglaridacris agminis sp. n. (Cestoda: Caryophyllaeidae) from the Lake Chubsucker, Erimyzon sucetta (Lacepede)

A caryophyllaeid cestode, Isoglaridacris agminis sp. n., is described from the lake chubsucker, Erimyzon sucetta (Lacepede). A low number of testes occurring in one dorsal and one ventral row separates I. agminis from others of the genus. A table comparing the species of Isoglaridacris is presented. Four species of Isoglaridacris are known (Table I). All of these have been described from the western and northern United States. The following is the first description of a species of Isoglaridacris from the southeastern United States. MATERIALS AND METHODS Host fish were collected with 10and 50-ft seines, backpack shocker, monofilament gill nets, and trammel nets. They were held alive until all were examined within 24 hr of capture. Cestodes were fixed in hot 5% formalin. Paraffin sections of 12 ,u thickness were prepared and stained with hematoxylin and eosin; whole mounts were stained with Semichon's carmine or Semichon's carmine with a fast-green counterstain. Sections and whole specimens were mounted in Permount. Measurements were based on relaxed, unflattened specimens. Measurements of testes and of vitellaria follow Mackiewicz (1963). Ten eggs were measured from the uterus of each specimen. Measurements are in microns unless otherwise indicated, with range in parentheses. Drawings were made with the aid of a Bausch and Lomb Trisymplex microprojector and a camera lucida. Comparative material (all USNM Helm. Coll.) consisted of a paralectotype of I. hexacotyle Mackiewicz (4793), the holotype of I. longus Frederickson and Ulmer (60302), and paratypes of I. bulbocirrus Mackiewicz (39288) and I. folius Frederickson and Ulmer (60301). Isoglaridacris agminis sp. n. (Figs. 1-5) Host and locality: Lake chubsucker, Erimyzon sucetta (Lacepede), Uphapee Creek, 4 miles northeast of Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama. Habitat: Intestine, loosely attached. Specimens studied: 22 (10 measured). Type specimens: Holotype and two paratypes, Received for publication 14 March 1972. * Supported by the Southeastern Cooperative Fish Disease Project (in part by Sport Fish Restoration funds and Rockefeller Project RF65061). USNM Helm. Coll. Nos. 72235, 72236; paratypes in authors' collections. Description Gravid adults 5.518 mm (3.770 to 7.730) in length by 575 (470 to 780) in greatest width. Outer longitudinal muscles poorly developed. Wedge-shaped scolex with 3 pairs of shallow loculi. Neck of moderate length. Length from tip of scolex to vitellaria 1.968 mm (1.390 to 2.910). Testes, numbering 28 to 40, located in 1 dorsal and 1 ventral layer. Testes 166 (101 to 221) by 134 (91 to 188), beginning 1.994 mm (1.420 to 2.930) from tip of scolex and extending to cirrus pouch; not extending to anterior limit of preovarian vitellaria. Genital aperture 901 (680 to 1,290) from posterior. Cirrus unarmed, eversible pouch, oblong, 138 (120 to 162) by 118 (85 to 138). External seminal vesicle 144 (137 to 147) in length by 75 (73 to 77) in maximum width. Ovary elongated, inverted, A-shaped with open apex, arms 580 (420 to 840) in length. Vagina lacking seminal receptacle. Vitellaria 54 (34 to 66) by 34 (32 to 43), beginning 1.160 (630 to 2.230) from scolex and extending to ovary; postovarian vitellaria present, not continuous with preovarian vitellaria. Eight pairs of osmoregulatory canals in testicular portion of body. Eggs operculate, shell smooth, 45 (34 to 66) by 34 (32 to 43).

What Fishermen Look for in a Fishing Experience

What Fishermen Look for in a Fishing Experience

Thirteen-Year Yield of Smallmouth Bass from a Gravel Pit Pond

A 1.21-acre gravel pit pond stocked with smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui), F1 hy- brid crappie ( Pomoxis nigromaculatus X P. annularis ), and lake chubsuckers ( Erimyzon sucetta ) produced annual hook-and-line yields of 28 to 97 pounds per acre over a period of 13 years. The an- nual hybrid crappie yield was small, usually less than 6 pounds per acre of fish that ranged in weight from 0.38 to 1.16 pounds. Thus, smallmouth bass made up the bulk of the catch, and their yields alone ranged from 27 to 94 pounds per acre per season with a 13-year average of 60.7 pounds per acre. The numbers of smallmouths caught annually ranged from 31 to 184 per acre, with an average of 90. The lowest average weight of the smallmouths caught in any one season was 0.48 pound and the highest for a season was 1.04 pounds. Survival of hybrid crappie spawn was so low that they have presented no problem of overpopulation and stunting so characteristic of the parent species when stocked in small ponds. No chubsuckers were taken by angling, but chubsucker fry were observed along the shore shallows from April through May of each year. This combination appears to be capable of maintaining itself indefinitely with variable fisherman use of around 130 man-hours per acre per year.

Largemouth Bass and Other Fishes in Ridge Lake, Illinois, 1941-1963

Ridge Lake was stocked with 335 yearling largemouth bass and 100 adults in 1941, 129 bluegills in 1944, 138 warmouths in 1949, and varying numbers of channel catfish in 1951, 1952, and 1957. After an attempt to remove all bluegills by draining the lake and leaving the lake basin emptv over the winter of 1959-1960, 585 lake chubsuckers and 4,500 hybrid sunfishes were stocked in the spring of 1960. Since the beginning of this study in 1941, 29,700 largemouth bass, 390.000 bluegills, and about 10,000 warmouths have been permanently removed from the lake. The lake now (1968) contains adequate numbers of all species stocked except channel catfish, which did not reproduce successfully in standing water. A complete creel census has been conducted at Ridge Lake each summer except in 1941 and 1943, when the lake was closed to public fishing. In addition, the lake was drained and the fishes were censused in the springs of 1943, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1956, 1959 (fall), and 1963, and selected kinds, sizes, and numbers of fish were held alive and restocked (Tables 1-4). One of the more important aspects of the Ridge Lake study is that, because it is a long-term investigation, it demonstrates the variability of a fairly simple population of common fishes, not only in numbers and total weight, but also in the yield obtainable from angling.

The Lake Chubsucker as a Forage Species

The Lake Chubsucker as a Forage Species